New Orleans cemetery ironwork, both wrought and cast, reflects a continuous sequence of decorative patterns favored by the city's nineteenth-century citizens. It is a virtual explosion of individual tastes equal to those of tomb and sculptural designs.

Metalwork

Metalwork in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was used for both decorative elements, such as applied relief sculpture and urns, as well as architectural components, such as partial and full enclosures with gates.

Forged Wrought Iron - Forging, or the forming of heated wrought iron with hammer and anvil, was used to produce the earliest ironwork in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, mostly surviving in the form of simple crosses.

Transitional Composite Metalwork - This is the most prevalent type of metalwork found in the cemetery, produced roughly between 1830 and 1860. It was used exclusively to fabricate enclosure railings.

Cast Iron - Casst iron is an alloy of iron, with a high (2-4%) carbon content which can be poured in a molten state into sand molds.

Opening quote: Mary Louise Christovich, ed. New Orleans Architecture, Vol III-The Cemeteries. Gretna: Pelican Publishing, 1974.